The invention relates to an electrical contact device having contact arms and locking elements for locking a contact socket behind locking edges in spring chambers of multipolar plug connectors, or the like.
With data processing machines, the structural elements are combined to assemblies which can individually be plugged in to facilitate production and maintenance. For this purpose, mainly circuit boards made of moulded laminated plastic and having etched or printed conductor paths are suitable. These conductor paths are connected among one another either directly via so-called plug connecting elements or, when a higher transmission quality is required, via plug connectors which are arranged on the circuit boards.
Owing to the packing density and the dense concentration of the structural elements resulting therefrom, the contact clearances of the contact sockets or bushes in the plug connectors are also very narrow, and the contact bushes themselves are very small.
Contact sockets of the kind referred to are, in general, produced by virtue of the fact that contact sockets are locked in a casing which is produced by a die-casting process. These contact sockets vary with regard to their design, depending on the use of the finished plug connector.
Moreover, the contact sockets have to be manufactured in such a way that they can easily be removed, in order to replace the contact sockets when a conductor connection is faulty, or also, to allow for different contacting when new connections are to be set up.
Despite the small size of the individual contact sockets, they have to be manufactured in such a way that they can be contacted by the crimp technique. When employing this crimp technique, the contact sockets are mechanically contacted by means of pressing together the connecting part of the contact sockets with the line to be connected. But in order to enable conventional soldering at the same time, it is necessary to design the entire connecting socket and especially its connecting part in such a way that both contacting methods can be employed without experiencing any change in respect of the mechanical and electrical properties of the spring region of the contact bushes.
In order to fulfill these requirements, it is well-known to provide contact sockets where in the region of the contact part of the contact bush a cushioned lug is provided which is bent out and locks behind a locking edge on insertion of the contact socket into the plug connector casing.
In order to replace such a contact socket inside the plug connector casing, said bent out lug is lifted back across the locking edge via a pointed replacement tool, and the contact socket is removed from the casing.
In the case of a further known plug connector, integrated locking spings are arranged in the individual casing sections in the plug connector casing itself, and on insertion of the contact socket into the spring chambers, said locking springs lock this contact socket via notchings in the casing.
By means of locking springs integrated in this manner, it is, indeed, possible to set up plug connectors having up to two casing sections, but with multiple-row plug connectors, where the individual casing sections are to be agglutinated, it is no longer possible to set up locking elements integrated in this manner. Locking elements situated in the central position can no longer be deflected and, therefore, replacement of the contact sockets is no longer possible.